McDonald’s bringing back Szechuan Sauce for one day only in response to fan demand

Demand for McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce piqued after Cartoon Network’s “Rick and Morty” made reference to it in April.

(Reuters)

McDonald’s has announced news that’s sure to make a group of very vocal “Rick and Morty” fans quite happy: They’re bringing back their Szechuan dipping sauce for a limited time.

The sauce, which was originally offered in 1998 as part of a marketing tie-in with the release of Disney’s “Mulan,” will now be available at select locations for one day only on Oct. 7, in honor of the chain’s new Buttermilk Crispy Tenders. According to the SF Gate, it’s also very likely that the chain is bringing back the item in response to a Change.org petition organized by fans of the Cartoon Network series “Rick and Morty” earlier this year.

Right around the show’s third-season debut in April, McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce became something of a cult item among fans of “Rick and Morty” after the character of Rick — a mad scientist — admitted to having an obsession with the discontinued sauce.

Then, in July, McDonald’s sent a half-gallon of Szechuan sauce to Justin Roiland, the show’s co-creator, complete with cryptic packaging that contained several references to the cartoon.

At the time, Roiland shared a photo of the half-gallon, enthusiastically announcing to his followers that “we f—ing did it” in his caption.

McDonald’s, too, shared a photo of three other half-gallons of the sauce, leaving fans to wonder how they could get their hands on the remaining sauce, if at all.

Now, however, McDonald’s is going all-in on the release of its Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, playing up the fact that fans can dip them in their choice of “10 sauces in our legendary lineup” including the Szeshuan dipping sauce and newly created Signature sauce.